Get back on the diet, Len Dawson. Your old Boilermaker uniform may still fit.

Dawson, Griese, Everett and other legendary Purdue quarterbacks can remain on their pedestals. Their place in history is safe, at least for the time being.

For a five-minute span after the opening kickoff in Ross-Ade Stadium Saturday, it appeared that Purdue`s 18-year-old freshman quarterback, Jeff George, had dedicated himself to quickly erasing the memories of the Boilermakers` long list of super gunslingers.

George, the 1985 national high school player of the year from Indianapolis` Warren Central, hurled touchdown strikes of 11 and 25 yards to flanker Lance Scheib, set up by a blocked punt and a pass interception, to help Purdue grab a 14-0 lead over Pittsburgh.

But Purdue`s visions of an upset vanished along with George`s composure as the Panthers pressured him into five interceptions and six sacks en route to a 41-26 triumph.

It was George`s first major test (Purdue beat Ball State last week) and his first loss since his sophomore year in high school.

``I know I had a bad game,`` George said. ``I made a lot of mistakes. I think we took them for granted after we got the two early touchdowns. Then everything went down the tube.``

After his early burst of glory, George made typical freshman mistakes, especially in attempting to throw into coverage.

``They did a lot of blitzing we hadn`t expected,`` George said. ``It shot our whole game plan. But I learned I can take the hits.``

``I`ve never been so disturbed as I was with our offense,`` Purdue coach Leon Burtnett said. ``This game was one nobody could win with seven turnovers. Next week I`m just going to punt the ball on first down.``

The Boilermakers play at Notre Dame next Saturday.

Purdue`s injury-depleted group of receivers absorbed still another blow when Rick Brunner went out in the first quarter with a back injury. The Boilermakers have lost six receivers through injury.

``I`ve never seen a team with so many losses at one position,`` said Burtnett, who brought cornerback Rod Woodson in at wide receiver on several occasions. Woodson also returned four kickoffs and three punts.

``Woodson isn`t Superman,`` Burtnett said. ``I don`t know how many plays I can ask him to come in and play.``

Woodson had his man beat on the last play of the first quarter, but George fumbled when sacked by Tony Woods for a 10-yard loss and tackle Walter Johnson recovered for Pitt on the Purdue 32.

The turnover set up a 47-yard field goal by Jeff Van Horne that broke a 14-14 tie and sent the Panthers spurting into a three-point lead that swelled to 27-14 by halftime and 41-14 by the end of the third quarter.

After George hit his former high school teammate, Scheib, for the first two Purdue touchdowns, 260-pound Craig Heyward smashed a yard into the end zone to cap a 14-play, 79-yard Pitt drive. Billy Owens` 43-yard interception return of a George pass knotted the score at 14-14 with 52 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

It`s not George`s fault, of course, that Purdue has virtually no ground attack, as usual. Purdue used only two running backs, James Medlock and Jerry Chaney, who rushed for a net total of 24 yards. Because George was sacked six times for 67 yards, Purdue had minus-43 yards rushing, a school record. The previous mark was minus-14 yards against Illinois in 1965.

George set a freshman record for completions by hitting on 28 of 50 passes for 264 yards. His five interceptions were the most ever thrown by a Purdue freshman quarterback and tied the school interception mark set by Mike Phipps in 1969 against Ohio State.

``There are a lot of things I have to learn,`` George said. ``Such as throwing to the proper receivers.``